Naquadah generators
Naquadah generators are powerful energy producing devices developed by Stargate Command with the help of the Orbanians. Overview: Naquadah generators are advanced reactor units that produce tremendous amounts of clean energy from small amounts of Naquadah, a mineral that is not native to Earth's solar system. Such a reactor which has low levels of enriched Naquadah contains enough reactants to generate an explosion of 20 kilotons following an overload, and it has been said that it could take 30 seconds for the generator to overload. Estimating peak power in this case is difficult, since it is unknown if the liberated energies would be solely provided by the build-up phase (in which case the peak power capacity of the reactor could be estimated), or if it would be due to the reaction of all remaining Naquadah, triggered by the initial explosion from the overload. As a result, Naquadah generators can be turned into a powerful bomb, which the Atlantis expedition has implemented as a self-destruct mechanism for the city of Atlantis as a safeguard from the Wraith. If such an explosion occurs, an Electromagnetic pulse is generated which is similar to the effect of a nuclear explosion in space. Later, in 2005 the Mark II series was developed, and it is capable of achieving 600% of the power output of the Mark I; it operates in a state of barely controlled overload and is quickly depleted. Never-the-less, two of these devices can power an Ancient Control chair for a limited number of uses, which normally requires a Zero Point Module to operate. Earth has also introduced an miniaturized Naquadah generator, the Mark IM which was used to power the X-699 Plasma rifle, and the Plasma Torpedo Launcher. Continuing the development of the Naquadah generator the Tau'ri have started an limited production of the Mark III series which is capable of achieving 1200% of the power output of the Mark I. There are two types of Mark III reactors. The first operates on an Heavy liquid-Naquadah reaction, which has the addition of heavy water to the reaction process. The second and slightly more unstable reactor design operates in an barely controlled Naquadah-Naquadriah reaction. The Mark III can power an Ancient Control Chair, and 3 of them can power the shields of Atlantis for a limited amount of time in emergency situations (up to 48 hours) before they are depleted. Uses of Naquadah generators include: * Powering a Stargate without a Dial Home Device on another world for interstellar dialling-out, either manually or with a dialing program installed laptop. * Temporarily powering various alien devices, should their own power source be depleted. * Powering the Prometheus and Daedalus-class series of warships. * A miniature Naquadah generator was used to power the X-699 directed energy weapon, Earth's first directed energy weapon * Powering the Control chairs in the Antarctic outpost and Atlantis whilst in a state of barely controlled overload * Powering the city of Atlantis in lieu of Zero Point Modules. * Providing an alternative source of clean power to the economies of the Gate Alliance Treaty nations. History: Earth was given Naquadah reactor technology by the Orbanians, and a workable prototype was developed at Stargate Command by Major Samantha Carter. It has since been used to power many technologies from Earth, and also by offworld SG teams to power various alien technologies. Naquadah generators are heavily relied upon by the Atlantis expedition to power the Ancient city of Atlantis in the distant Pegasus galaxy, especially in their first year in the city when they didn't have access to a Zero Point Module. When reinforcements were sent to Atlantis from Earth they brought with them more Mark I's, and the new Mark II reactors, which were used to power Atlantis' Control chair while defending the city from the Wraith; unfortunately, the reactors were quickly depleted. After a ZPM was installed on Atlantis, Naquadah generators served mainly as a back-up energy system. Category:Tau'ri Technology